WASHINGTON -- A Hungarian figure skating judge was removed from the panel for the women's event Wednesday, punishment for being a founding member of the World Skating Federation.

Judit Furst-Tombor was one of 10 judges chosen to judge Group B in the women's qualifying event at the World Figure Skating Championships.

But 15 minutes before she was to report, Furst-Tombor said she received a letter from the president of the Hungarian skating federation withdrawing her from the panel.

Furst-Tombor is "acting against the ISU's constitution,'' Hungarian federation president Ferenc Batho wrote in a letter to International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta.

"The Hungarian team and some of the judges were surprised about this decision,'' said Furst-Tombor, who has been a world and Olympic judge since 1986. "I thought (it might happen), but I didn't think it would come from the Hungarian federation.''

Batho could not immediately be reached. The ISU said it would have no comment.

According to the ISU constitution, "members shall not participate in any activities, national or international, against the integrity, the exclusive role and interests of the ISU.''

And the WSF would certainly seem to violate that provision.

The WSF announced Tuesday that it wants to replace the ISU as figure skating's governing body, saying the sport has lost integrity and credibility under Cinquanta's leadership.

Furst-Tombor is listed as one of the WSF's founding members, and she spoke at a news conference Tuesday to announce the group.

Furst-Tombor said she won't appeal the decision.

"There's no reason,'' she said, adding that she plans to submit a letter of resignation from the ISU when she returns to Hungary.

Furst-Tombor's dismissal left the Group B panel with only nine judges. Under the interim scoring system, a 10-judge panel is supposed to score the qualifying round, with a computer randomly and secretly choosing the seven marks that count.

But the panel still had a quorum, so no substitution was made. Group A had a 10-judge panel.